Posted on 08/26/2014 7:37:21 PM PDT by Eric Pode of Croydon
A whopping 68 percent of Americans think there should be a law that prohibits kids 9 and under from playing at the park unsupervised, despite the fact that most of them no doubt grew up doing just that.
What's more: 43 percent feel the same way about 12-year-olds. They would like to criminalize all pre-teenagers playing outside on their own (and, I guess, arrest their no-good parents).
Those are the results of a Reason/Rupe poll confirming that we have not only lost all confidence in our kids and our communities—we have lost all touch with reality.
"I doubt there has ever been a human culture, anywhere, anytime, that underestimates children's abilities more than we North Americans do today," says Boston College psychology professor emeritus Peter Gray, author of Free to Learn, a book that advocates for more unsupervised play, not less.
In his book, Gray writes about a group of 13 kids who played several hours a day for four months without supervision, though they were observed by an anthropologist. "They organized activities, settled disputes, avoided danger, dealt with injuries, distributed goods... without adult intervention," he writes.
The kids ranged in age from 3 to 5.
Of course, those kids were allowed to play in the South Pacific, not South Carolina, where Debra Harrell was thrown in jail for having the audacity to believe her 9-year-old would be fine by herself at a popular playground teeming with activity. In another era, it not only would have been normal for a child to say, "Goodbye, mom!" and go off to spend a summer's day there, it would have been odd to consider that child "unsupervised." After all, she was surrounded by other kids, parents, and park personnel. Apparently now only a private security detail is considered safe enough.
Harrell's real crime was that she refused to indulge in inflated fears of abduction and insist her daughter never leave her side. While there are obviously many neighborhoods wrecked by crime where it makes more sense to keep kids close, the country at large is enjoying its lowest crime level in decades.
Too bad most people reject this reality. The Reason/Rupe Poll asked "Do kids today face more threats to their physical safety?" and a majority—62 percent—said yes. Perhaps that's because the majority of respondents also said they don't think the media or political leaders are overhyping the threats to our kids.
But they are. "One culprit is the 24 hour news cycle," said Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, when I asked him why so few kids are outside these days. Turn on cable TV, "and all you have to do is watch how they take a handful of terrible crimes against children and repeat that same handful over and over," he said. "And then they repeat the trial over and over, and so we're conditioned to live in a state of fear."
Rationally understanding that we are living in very safe times is not enough to break the fear, he added.
So what is?
Experience. Through his Children and Nature Network, Louv urges families to gather in groups and go on hikes or even to that park down the street that Americans seem so afraid of. Once kids are outside with a bunch of other kids, they start to play. It just happens. Meanwhile, their parents stop imagining predators behind every bush because they are face to face with reality instead of Criminal Minds. They start to relax. It just happens.
Over time, they can gradually regain the confidence to let their kids go whoop and holler and have as much fun as they themselves did, back in the day.
Richard Florida, the urbanist and author of The Rise of the Creative Class, is one of the many parents today who recalls walking to school solo in first grade. He was in charge of walking his kindergarten brother the next year. The age that the Reason/Rupe respondents think kids should start walking to school without an adult is 12.
That's the seventh grade.
Florida has intensely fond memories of riding his bike "everywhere" by the time he was 10. Me too. You too, I'm guessing. Why would we deny that joy to our own kids? Especially when we're raising them in relatively safer times?
"Let your kids play in the park, for God's sake," Florida pleads. "We'll all be better for it."
Why should South Pacific toddlers have all the fun?
Yours sounds like a wonderful, American style childhood. I could just imagine every part you wrote about.
But sadly, as you mentioned, its gone. Its not coming back either.
Back then criminals weren’t wandering the streets so freely.
Greta stories!
Wish there were an FR thread where folks could add their childhood recollections. I so enjoy reading them.
I used to go explore all over the place. I’m glad I grew up when I did.
That was an enjoyable read!
i don’t.
I am one of those parents. In my neighborhood which averages $750-$1.75MM per house we have dozens of sex offenders in a five mile radius plus more of Obama’s sons because of the forced social engineering of high density, low income housing being built in our town.
I agree, but this isn’t 1956 or the 70’s when I grew up as a kid.
Me too, woods all day, fishing all day at 7 or 8 in the pond. Bike at 6. BB gun at 10, .22 at 12.
Great stories! Similar to my childhood..WHO wanted to be in the house? How boring (plus Mom might make me do chores or something)!
I grew up on a farm and was an “outside” kid for my entire childhood. As a toddler in the baby swimming pool my black lab “Blackie” stood guard and pulled me up by my little swimsuit straps if I fell over as my Mom watched from the kitchen window (I think she was watching...LOL). Got kicked in the face by my pony when I was about three...got over it.
Training wheels came off the bike at 4, promptly drove directly into a tree...no helmet of course...got over that too. Around that time, Grandma & Grandpa added on to their house...Grandpa had me pick up the nails in the grass and paid me a penny for each. I would then run down to the Grocery store (3 blocks away) to find out what I could purchase from Mr. Kundel. I crossed the street so I didn’t have to go past the local bar...too scary!
By 8 or so, I was riding my bike 4 miles (to visit one Grandma) or 5 (to visit the other); well, mainly to get cookies.
Had a minibike by 11 and so did all of the neighbor kids- they were all boys. We built ramps, jumped ditches, ended up in the ER many times amongst us. When Winter came, we would build multi-room snow caves when young; but by about 11-12 were riding snowmobiles. A favorite activity was tying one of those steel saucers to the back with a 20’ rope whereupon the snowmobile driver would try to “toss” the rider in any way possible....WHEEEE!
Took gun safety in school in 6th grade on Friday just before lunch; taught by a DNR guy (had to bring our guns of course). Learned to shoot before then, though.
Also learned to drive before I was 10; in fact, I drove a tractor through the side of a barn when I was about 5 or 6. Dad had something to do with that as he was trying to teach me to drive it. Rode on the fender of the tractor many times...right above the big tire hanging on for dear life as we bounced along in the field. We also “walked” beans (to cut the weeds out of the fields)...I carried a 20” machete.
I was just laughing thinking about all of the band-aids and other first aid items that we must have gone through in our house...it was a daily occurrence...LOL!
“Anyone remember when Thrifty ice cream was 5 cents a scoop?”
Big time. When I was in Jr. High, there was a Thrifty between my house and the school. On the way home I’d get a triple scoop most every day.
Another reason to remove “land of the free and the home of the brave” from the national anthem.
Yup. 75 cents would get you five Marvel comic books and a triple scoop ice cream cone.
Now I sound like my dad. God I feel old.
My 17-year old disagrees...would like to talk to you privately about it...in the backyard...unsupervised :)
I wonder how the questions were worded to arrive at this conclusion that the kids should be “criminalized”.
Was it Thrifty that was served on the cone in the shape of a cylinder? The server used a device that he/she stuck into the tub of ice cream and had a squeeze handle that pushed the cylinder plug of ice cream onto the cone?
I remember those cones were 5 cents.
Ice cream cone, pack of gum, a coke, cup of coffee were all just 5 cents when I was in college. Small cheese pizza was $1.25. Chicken and ground beef were 25 cents per pound. Gas was 20 - 25 cents per gallon, but had lead in it. Mug of beer was 25 cents at The Wet Olive in Stillwater, OK. A pitcher was $1.25 and had a bunch of nice fresh green olives in it. I went to college on $1300 per year and that included tuition, room, board, books, etc. It cost $11 per credit hour my frosh year, and rose up to $14 per credit hour by my senior year. {1969-1973 Ok State U. GO POKES!!!!} It cost 25cents to go to a movie when I was a kid, until age 12, then it cost 75Cents to go to a movie. The drive in was $1.00 per car load. A good used car was $125. You could buy an old house for $9K and a new one for $19K in OK.
I walked almost a mile to school for 8th & 9th grades. It was at the old high school building, and they used it for 8,9 grades. We walked everywhere.
But actually our kids were able to do that her in small town Texas, on the Gulf Coast. I assume it is still safe here. There are still pockets where it is safe....
But I think Obama, Holder, Sharpton, Jackson are trying to stir up a race war. No place will be safe for anyone, especially for them! They will be blamed, once it gets really bad in the streets, and they will be hunted. I DO WISH THEY WOULD SEE THAT BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE>
I know what the Civil War did to USA last time. The deaths and destruction...
Gun Safety.... I remember the FFA and FHA boys had their long guns in the back window of their pick up trucks when I was in high school. they had to go to shooting practice right after school. This was in the 1960s, and it was NO PROBLEM!
I meant FFA and Four H!!!!!!!!!!!
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